App Weekly June 04 2017: a round-up best apps that released in the last week

Let’s start with a cute little game called Happy Hop. As is very evident from the title, you control a small creature who wants to hop onto never-ending stairs reaching to the sky. Some of them crumble and others barely stay there for a second but the rewards of this perilous quest are worth it. Play this for a quick break and for the ‘kawaii’ graphics.

Next we come to Yellow, a simple game which will have you thinking. Created by Bart Bonte, who we shall soon feature an interview with, Yellow will have you rushing through its 50 short levels without pause. The game is a purely visual take on puzzles and you should definitely try out a few other games by Bart to get more of his unique way of looking at things.

Voi is a visual puzzle which features the interplay between black and white. Each level gives you a few shapes and a particular silhouette you must create from the shape. The rule in Voi is that black and black make white and this dynamic is what you will explore in its many levels. This game is a must play if you enjoyed Shadowmatic.

Mr. Bean – Around the World deserves to be played in part because of the sheer nostalgia. This game is based on the animated Mr. Bean series and features some music from the show as well. The game itself is a pretty standard runner but it has always been fun to watch Mr. Bean annoy Mrs. Wicket by causing trouble. Incidentally, that comes bundled in this one.

Hydraulic Press Pocket is for you if the countless videos pitching a helpless object against the brute force of a hydraulic press capture your attention. This game may sound lame but it somehow works. It basically puts you in charge of one of those YouTube channels and the objects you choose determine whether you trend or not.

Learning

Knudge.me is a great way to learn new things which forces you to finally expand your vocabulary with in-your-face notifications. Checked your phone to see if someone messaged you? They didn’t, but now you saw the meaning for ‘chicanery’ and you will never ever forget it. And if there’s a slight chance you might, there are games related to words and comprehension. All in all, this app seems a far more effective way of improving your verbal skills than the usual range of apps focused towards CAT, GRE and the like.

Opeddiction is a reader for only the editorial section of a number of news sources. Different from the popular stream of news apps which want to give you the most facts in the least words, this app helps you understand current affairs at a deeper level, through the views of experts in various fields. The app itself simply collates these articles printed online but it makes accessing them much easier than it would have been to go looking on the website of every newspaper it covers. This way, you can get the viewpoints from several different paradigms in one go.

Productivity

Studying can often be stressful and it is very easy to get distracted with the sheer number of apps on your phone and the constant barrage of social media connections. Turn your phone into a helper rather than a deterrent to your exam preparation with Tide and StudyMusic.

Tide is based on the Pomodoro technique which recommends 25 minutes of focused, effective study and short breaks in between. The app features a few soft soundtracks to encase you in a sound cocoon until you are done. If you can get yourself to concentrate fully for that amount of time, you are already on your way to becoming a super balanced human being.

StudyMusic has a collection of soundtracks for different purposes like reading, memorizing or learning. The soundtracks again serve as white noise to block out your irritating sibling or the traffic or any possible disturbance you may hear. For people who spend a lot of time travelling, this app might be quite useful in silencing all the ruckus around you. In fact, with StudyMusic you could study peacefully in the Delhi metro, or any form of public transport for that matter.

Others

Cortex Deals is a cool app by Razer which links to your Steam account and pings you whenever an item on your wish list goes on sale. It’s perfect to catch those deals which might easily slip by otherwise. As you’d know if you use Steam regularly, flash sales and publisher weekends happen all the time. Moreover, you can link Gamersgate and GOG.com account to it and the deals are sourced from a long list of online gaming stores like the Humble store and Green Man Gaming. And you would definitely not want to miss out on getting that fancy new game at a knockoff price!

Zeus is a party in your smartphone. What it does is sync your flashlight to the music you’re listening to so you can have a cool disco light in the comfort of your own home. If you don’t like going to clubs and dancing the night away, Zeus will bring the club to your room for you. You’ll still have to do the dancing, though.

Minimal Wallpapers does exactly what it says it will do. It has a large collection of sleek wallapers that are actually aesthetically appealing. The images range from abstract ones to ones inspired by pop culture like the Breaking Bad one. This app will make sure your phone always look amazing to look at, even if it is just the lock screen.